Hospitality · Big Sur
Treebones Resort.
An off-grid resort on a Big Sur bluff, and a website that has to book every bed. Fifteen years in, it still does.
The work
I've rebuilt the site several times, and the writing has stayed the same.
The Handy family has run Treebones since 2004. I started on the site in 2011 and have rebuilt it end to end more than once since.
Every rebuild has had the same job. Someone is reading on a phone, trying to picture a night on the bluff, and the site has to get them to a booking. Real photography and fast pages do most of that work, and the writing stays plain.
The 2026 rebuild
I rebuilt the site from the ground up.
The current site is a custom WordPress theme I built with Gutenberg and ACF. Every page and every booking runs through it.
- 01
Custom theme, hand-built
I wrote the theme myself, with no page builder, so it stays fast and I can change anything.
- 02
Direct booking engine
WebRezPro is wired in so guests book direct, and the resort keeps the cut an OTA would take.
- 03
Seven lodging pages
Each stay type, from the yurts to the 3D-printed Cove, has its own page with its own hero photo and copy.
- 04
Two dining reservation flows
The Lodge and Wild Coast Sushi each have their own Tock reservation flow, wired into the site.
- 05
Live bluff cam
A live camera feed from the bluff is embedded in the page, so you can see the coast right now.
- 06
SEO + content architecture
I built the content structure and schema markup so search finds the property, with no keyword stuffing.
Design language
The colors and type the site runs on
Palette
Pacific, the seaglass color, ties the homepage together. Bark and Nightfall do the dark structural work. Parchment is for text.
Typography
Sleep in the Nest
Big Sur off-grid resort. Yurts, the Autonomous Tent, the Cove, the Nest. Two restaurants. Family-built since 2004.
Cormorant Garamond is the headline face and Jost is the body face. Each headline gets one italic accent of one to three words, usually a brand value like Pacific or nest.
The stay pages
I built a page for each of the seven stay types.
Each one has its own hero photo, filmstrip, and copy on the live site. Click a card to see the real page.
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01 Yurts
Sleep in a Yurt Above the Pacific
The yurts are circular, with king beds, redwood decks, and ocean views.
View live page ↗ -
02 Autonomous Tents
Off-Grid Living, Elevated
These are private off-grid tents with solar power, modern interiors, and ocean views, in one of the most secluded spots in Big Sur.
View live page ↗ -
03 The Cove
A Tiny Home at the Edge of the Coast
The Cove is a 3D-printed tiny home above the Pacific.
View live page ↗ -
04 Campsites
Camp Above the Pacific
The campsites are walk-in, with ocean views.
View live page ↗ -
05 The Twig Hut
Sleep Inside a Work of Art
The Twig Hut is a hand-built two-story wood structure with ocean views.
View live page ↗ -
06 The Nest
Sleep in the Nest
The Nest is a human-sized woven nest above the coastline, and you spend the night in it.
View live page ↗ -
07 The Treehouse
A Treehouse Stay Above Big Sur
The Treehouse is a redwood cabin you reach by suspension bridge, with ocean views.
View live page ↗
On the bluff
Both restaurants take reservations through the site.
I designed both dining pages and wired each one to its own Tock reservation flow as part of the 2026 rebuild.
The Lodge Restaurant
Four courses from Chef Kyle Walker
The seasonal tasting menu is cooked in a wood-fired oven, with produce from the organic garden on site. Overnight guests get breakfast here too.
Wild Coast Sushi
Omakase from Chef Yancy Knapp
It's a multi-course omakase with limited seating, and the windows face the coast.
“
We got a fabulous result and simply could not be happier.
John Handy, Treebones
Approach
I made a few decisions early and kept them.
The photography carries every page. Sections run as full-width bands, not cards stacked on photos, and the type stays small. Booking and the live bluff cam got the most engineering time, because those are what turn a visitor into a guest.
I don't keyword-stuff or chase tricks. The writing is for guests, and the clean structure and schema do the search work.
Right now · Big Sur
Live view from
the edge of the coast
No filter. No edit. Just our bluff above the Pacific as it looks at this moment.
↳ Live section as it ships on treebonesresort.com
Result
It still sounds like Treebones.
Pages load fast on a phone. Guests book direct through WebRezPro, and both restaurants take reservations through Tock. Search finds the property without keyword tricks. The writing from the first build still reads true.
Run a resort or an inn?
Direct booking, two dining reservation flows, a live camera, and seven stay pages: that is what Treebones needed. Tell me what your property needs.